The Journal - Minnesota Sports Facilities Authorityhttp://www.journalmpls.com/tag-topics/minnesota-sports-facilities-authority
enKelm-Helgen shepherds stadium project forwardhttp://www.journalmpls.com/news-feed/kelm-helgen-shepherds-stadium-project-forward
<div class="field field-name-field-image-collection field-type-field-collection field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">
<div id="field-slideshow-1-wrapper" class="field-slideshow-wrapper">
<div class="field-slideshow field-slideshow-1 effect-fade timeout-0 with-pager with-controls" style="width:630px; height:470px">
<div class="field-slideshow-slide field-slideshow-slide-1 even first">
<div class="field-slideshow-wrapper-image">
<img class="field-slideshow-image field-slideshow-image-1" typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://www.journalmpls.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/images/articles/01/21/2014/IMG_5108.JPG" width="630" height="470" alt="" /> <div class="field-slideshow-captionbox">
<div class="field-slideshow-caption">
<span class="field-slideshow-caption-text">Kelm-Helgen in front of the new stadium construction along 11th Ave. S</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field-slideshow-creditbox">
<span class="field-slideshow-credit-text">Ben Johnson</span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ben Johnson</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p class="p1">As chair of the government agency charged with overseeing one of the largest, most controversial projects in state history, Michele Kelm-Helgen has experienced her share of drama.</p>
<p class="p1">She has served as the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority’s (MSFA) calm public face through the never-ending hoopla surrounding the construction of the new Vikings stadium. There have been numerous legal challenges regarding the stadium’s financing and a separate month-long probe into the finances and background of the Vikings owners, which culminated in a series of marathon negotiating sessions with the team to keep the project on schedule.</p>
<p class="p1">“I knew that the schedule and deadlines and all of those things would be issues when I took the job,” said Kelm-Helgen. “But we clearly have had some things to deal with that I hadn’t planned to deal with.”</p>
<p class="p1">For dealing with those unplanned obstacles MSFA commissioners unanimously voted Jan. 17 to give her a $25,000 raise, bumping her annual salary up to $127,000.</p>
<p class="p1">“It seems to me she’s done a pretty darn good job under very difficult circumstances,” said Downtown Council President Steve Cramer, who has a similar job chairing the Minnesota Ballpark Authority.</p>
<p class="p1"><img src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/images/articles/01/21/2014/helgenkelm.png" alt="" width="630" height="470" class="image-large inline_image" /></p>
<p class="p1">Kelm-Helgen with Downtown state Rep. Raymond Dehn (DFL-59B)</p>
<p class="p1"><strong>Deep political roots</strong></p>
<p class="p1">Kelm-Helgen’s grandfather managed Hubert Humphrey’s first Minneapolis mayoral campaign and was the chairman of the state Democratic party in the 1940s. </p>
<p class="p1">Her father moved the family from Montgomery, the small town about 50 miles south of Minneapolis where Kelm-Helgen grew up, to Chaska right before her senior year of high school after he became chief of staff for Gov. Wendell Anderson. </p>
<p class="p1">She ended up working for Anderson while attending college at St. Catherine, and after graduating she worked for Minneapolis Mayor Al Hofstede. </p>
<p class="p1">Then she moved to the private sector, working in sales, marketing and finance for 25 years while raising three kids — a boy and twin girls — in Chaska. One of her daughters is now the communications director for US Sen. Amy Klobuchar.</p>
<p class="p1">“[Kelm-Helgen’s] expertise and relationships in politics have clearly served her well,” said Minnesota Vikings Vice President of Public Affairs Lester Bagley. “She’s got the governor’s ear, and confidence, which has been important.”</p>
<p class="p1">Kelm-Helgen jumped back into the public realm in 2006 when she was hired as chief of staff for the Minnesota state Senate, and later moved to the governor’s office to serve as Gov. Mark Dayton’s deputy chief of staff in 2010.</p>
<p class="p1">But for all of her connections at the state capitol, she says her job chairing three different task forces in charge of redrawing school boundaries for the Eastern Carver County School District provided her the best experience for dealing with stadium issues.</p>
<p class="p1">“If you want to find an issue that drives wedges into communities, it’s changing school boundaries. It’s very emotional,” she said. The district was rapidly growing and during her time on the task force, and later as chair of the Eastern Carver County School Board, three new elementary schools, a middle school and a high school were built.</p>
<p class="p1">“What I learned there, and something I apply every day, is that people need to know that you’re very open and up front about what’s going on, that they have an opportunity to state their opinions and given a legitimate forum for talking about what they think should happen,” she said.</p>
<p class="p1"><strong><img src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/images/articles/01/21/2014/oct3.JPG" alt="Kelm-Helgen signs the stadium use and development agreements with MSFA President Ted Mondale" width="630" height="470" class="image-large inline_image" /></strong></p>
<p class="p1">Kelm-Helgen signs the stadium use and development agreements with MSFA President Ted Mondale</p>
<p class="p1"><strong>Selling a controversial project</strong></p>
<p class="p1">Kelm-Helgen’s diminutive frame belies her steady, calculating nature. She has proven to be a polished public speaker, honed over hundreds of media interviews and public meetings. </p>
<p class="p1">“I’ve known her for a very long time,” said Bagley, who spent much of the last decade lobbying at the state Capitol for a new stadium. “She’s determined, strong and very thorough … which is good when you’re building a billion dollar stadium.”</p>
<p class="p1">Her job, in large part, is to inform and engage with a largely skeptical public — which is paying $498 million for the project — about the benefits of the new stadium. When she explains why she thinks the stadium will be good for Minnesota, she lays out three main talking points:</p>
<p class="p1">A new stadium will spur scores of new investments in the area. It’s already happened with the recently-approved five-block Ryan Development on the west side of the stadium.</p>
<p class="p1">A new stadium will help attract huge events, like the Superbowl, or the Final Four, to Minneapolis, which bring massive economic benefits.</p>
<p class="p1">The Vikings only have control over the stadium for 10 days out of the year. On the remaining days it will serve as a world-class event space for a variety of public uses.</p>
<p class="p1">“Obviously most Minnesotans will never come to a Vikings game, but they will come to watch the state high school soccer championships, or state football championships, or marching band competitions … and that’s only available because we’ve got an NFL team paying us big dollars,” said Kelm-Helgen. The Vikings are paying the MSFA $10 million annually to help pay for operating expenses.</p>
<p class="p1">She said she expects the vitriol over the amount of taxpayer money committed to the project to wane and excitement to build as construction continues. Earlier this month she moved out of her small, ground-floor office at the Metrodome to make room for the growing construction site.</p>
<p class="p1"> “You’ve got to be calm,” she said. “There’s so much stress in the things that we’re doing and you just need to show people that we’re moving from A to B to C, and that yeah it’s tricky, and it’s difficult, but this is the path we’re taking and we’ll get there.”</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-video field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="dipity_embed" style="width:600px"><iframe width="960" height="400" src="http://www.dipity.com/bjohnson1/New-Vikings-stadium-lawsuits-and-roadblocks/?mode=embed&amp;ct=Aug 1, 2013&amp;z=1mon#tl" style="border:1px solid #CCC;"></iframe><p style="margin:0;font-family:Arial,sans;font-size:13px;text-align:center"><a href="http://www.dipity.com/bjohnson1/New-Vikings-stadium-lawsuits-and-roadblocks/">New Vikings stadium lawsuits and roadblocks</a> on <a href="http://www.dipity.com/"></a>Dipity.</p></div></div></div></div>Tue, 21 Jan 2014 23:22:09 +0000Ben Johnson22255 at http://www.journalmpls.comhttp://www.journalmpls.com/news-feed/kelm-helgen-shepherds-stadium-project-forward#commentsAnother legal challenge threatens to delay Vikings stadium, Downtown East developmenthttp://www.journalmpls.com/news-feed/another-legal-challenge-threatens-to-delay-vikings-stadium-downtown-east-development
<div class="field field-name-field-image-collection field-type-field-collection field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">
<div id="field-slideshow-2-wrapper" class="field-slideshow-wrapper">
<div class="field-slideshow field-slideshow-2 effect-fade timeout-0 with-pager with-controls" style="width:630px; height:470px">
<div class="field-slideshow-slide field-slideshow-slide-1 even first">
<div class="field-slideshow-wrapper-image">
<img class="field-slideshow-image field-slideshow-image-1" typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://www.journalmpls.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/images/articles/01/13/2014/Doug%2C%20Mann.jpg" width="630" height="470" alt="" /> <div class="field-slideshow-creditbox">
<span class="field-slideshow-credit-text">Doug Mann, file photo</span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ben Johnson</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>*Updated to clarify the nature of Mann's lawsuit</p>
<p>The sale of $486 million in state bonds to fund the new Vikings stadium has been delayed after another last-second legal challenge, which could push back the stadium’s opening date by a year.</p>
<p>A “petition for writ of prohibition” has been filed directly to Minnesota Supreme Court by former mayoral, school board and city council candidate Doug Mann, his wife, and former school board member David Tilsen.</p>
<p>Michele Kelm-Helgen, chair of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA), said she is hopeful that the Supreme Court will make an expedited ruling on the matter because the MSFA will be short $28 million on outstanding bills at the end of the month if the bonds are not issued soon.</p>
<p>“These are Minnesota companies and Minnesota workers that have already done the work, and they need to get paid,” said Kelm-Helgen.</p>
<p>Last summer Mann filed suit against Minneapolis, arguing that the bond sale was unconstitutional because Minneapolis has agreed to contribute $150 million toward stadium construction without holding a citywide referendum.</p>
<p>The Minneapolis City Charter states that the construction of any sports facility costing more than $15 million must be approved via referendum, however, the state legislation approving the Vikings stadium included an explicit override of the city charter, according to analysis done by Minneapolis City Attorney Susan Segal.</p>
<p>The Manns and Tilsen now say that the Minnesota constitution prohibits implementing a tax on Minneapolis that doesn't benefit Minneapolis.</p>
<p>In a brief filed with the Supreme Court they cited an 1864 legal case, Sanborn v. Rice County, which found that "a tax cannot be imposed exclusively on any subdivision of the State, to pay an indebtedness or claim which is not peculiarly the debt of such subdivision of the State, or to raise money for any purpose not peculiarly for the benefit of such subdivision."</p>
<p>In short, Mann is arguing that the taxes to pay for Minneapolis' share of the stadium costs are state taxes being imposed on Minneapolis for a purpose that does not "peculiarly benefit" the city.</p>
<p>Ground was broken Dec. 2 on the stadium and construction has been happening nearly around-the-clock along 11th Ave. The Vikings have put up the first $50 million in construction costs while the MSFA waits on the sale of state bonds.</p>
<p>Kelm-Helgen said the MSFA needs the money by Jan. 23 because that is when it is closing on the $17 million purchase of a block next to the Metrodome, which is designated to become a transit station.</p>
<p>That purchase is the first domino in a series of real estate transactions that would transform most of Downtown East. If the MSFA fails to close by Jan. 23, the three-way deal between Minneapolis, Ryan Cos., and the Star Tribune to redevelop five blocks next to the Metrodome would be in jeopardy, because they have signed purchase agreements that were scheduled to be executed by the end of the month.</p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 13 Jan 2014 20:00:01 +0000Ben Johnson22211 at http://www.journalmpls.comhttp://www.journalmpls.com/news-feed/another-legal-challenge-threatens-to-delay-vikings-stadium-downtown-east-development#commentsVikings chip in extra in final stadium budgethttp://www.journalmpls.com/news-feed/vikings-chip-in-extra-in-final-stadium-budget
<div class="field field-name-field-image-collection field-type-field-collection field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">
<div id="field-slideshow-3-wrapper" class="field-slideshow-wrapper">
<div class="field-slideshow field-slideshow-3 effect-fade timeout-0 with-pager with-controls" style="width:630px; height:470px">
<div class="field-slideshow-slide field-slideshow-slide-1 even first">
<div class="field-slideshow-wrapper-image">
<img class="field-slideshow-image field-slideshow-image-1" typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://www.journalmpls.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/images/articles/11/22/2013/IMG_4508.JPG" width="630" height="470" alt="" /> <div class="field-slideshow-creditbox">
<span class="field-slideshow-credit-text">Ben Johnson</span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ben Johnson</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>The Vikings have pledged an additional $41.4 million toward the construction of its new stadium after construction bids came in higher than anticipated. </p>
<p>Out of the additional funds pledged, $26.4 million will come from a line of credit for construction contingencies in order to maintain the stadium's "iconic" design and other features the team deems essential. The Vikings will also absorb $15 million related to playing at TCF Stadium in 2014 and 2015, a cost that was originally included in the construction budget.</p>
<p>Mortensen Construction's guaranteed maximum price for building the stadium rose from $737 million to $763 million because of an improving economic conditions in the construction industry.</p>
<p>"The good news is that construction is up, but the bad news, for us anyway, is that construction is up," said Michele Kelm-Helgen, chair of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority.</p>
<p>The total price of the stadium is still officially $975 million, but it could rise well above $1 billion if MSFA, Vikings and Mortensen contingency funds get used.</p>
<p>The state of Minnesota will be issuing $498 million in bonds in January. Originally those bonds were going to be issued earlier, but it was pushed back due to the a month-long delay the MSFA spent performing a "due-dilligence" probe on Vikings owner Zygi Wilf. Until the bonds are issued the Vikings will be paying all costs related to the construction of the stadium, according to Kelm-Helgen.</p>
<p>Mortensen will officially begin construction on Nov. 25, putting up fencing on the northeast side of the Metrodome. The demolition of the Dome is expected to take three months, and crews will work in a counter-clockwise fashion around the construction site. A ceremonial groundbreaking will be held at 10 a.m. on Dec. 3 on the east side of the Metrodome. It will be free and open to the public.</p>
<p>"The important thing is that we will be putting the shovel into the ground, putting people to work, and starting to build this stadium," said Lester Bagley, vice-president of stadium affairs for the Vikings.</p>
<p>If everything goes according to plan the new stadium is expected to open July 15, 2016.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
</div></div></div>Fri, 22 Nov 2013 18:15:25 +0000Ben Johnson21968 at http://www.journalmpls.comhttp://www.journalmpls.com/news-feed/vikings-chip-in-extra-in-final-stadium-budget#comments